IBM ThinkPad T41: Retro in 2019 

one thing everyone is overlooking is that he played it with a trackpoint. what a legend

I just ordered a x220t, and now I'm watching all thinkpad videos on RU-vid in anticipation of it arriving. Great video as always. I miss the original IBM "RGB" logo on the lids of these beasts.

These definitely have a second life for people who intend to write a book or paper and want an awesome keyboard and zero distractions from the web and apps. Who can name me one single feature added to apps like word processors, spreadsheets or even basic design apps in the last 20 years that anybody gives a shit about? So why are they now literally 500x larger in storage and require 100 times more hardware resources to do the same shit. This makes for a great distraction free retro work machine.

😍 This Thinkpad is so aesthetically pleasing. GREAT VIDEO!

It's a nice vintage you've got there. IBM released drivers for Win XP, 2000, Me and 98, as well as OS/2 and as long with that ATI chip, it's able to run a lot of software from quite a period of time.

I'm quite nostalgic about this one, had it for years running Ubuntu Jaunty and used it for literally everything.

Hello, Nice machine and nice review ! :) Those T4x are wonderful machines. But not without flaws. The problems with the wielding of the graphics cards are very annoying over the years. And on the aftermarket, you don't how the machines were treated, so it's a lottery when buying one. :( I bought a T42 almost when it was announced. Always going strong (even if I had to change the screen twice - blacklight failure). I also have a T41p with an SXGA+ screen. I put an SSD in it, absolutely wonderful (and also running fine). And I received yesterday a T43 (the collection is now forty machines, yay ! :) ). I was expecting an SXGA+ unit, but the seller did a mistake and I received a XGA model. I think I will live with it, as the rest of the laptop is litteraly like new (and I still could install the T41p screen on it if I want). I hope to have a quick reply from the seller to find an arrangement. The T43 has a Radeon X300 and is a late model, manufactured in september of 2005. I think this machine will not risk much with the GPU failure (it was more on earlier models). But not a reason to use it like a savage. I will be as gentle as I am with my other laptops. I promise ! As you said, a nice machine if you love vintage, but it can be used for modern tasks as a server. I still use my T41p and my T42 daily to listen to music, one of my X31 has a 7 years uptime as a proxy server and I have also an X61t which serves as a Dokuwiki server (with an uptime of ca. 3 years). It would be a waste to let those machines unused just because they are too old. Oh, you forgot to mention the infrared sensor on the left front of the laptop. ;) Can be very useful too to transfer little files. :) Thanks for the video ! :) W.

Hah, very nice machine and thanks for showing it! I can perfectly understand not wanting to remove any rubber feet from such a pristine unit. And I did actually play through most of Half-Life using only the TrackPoint on my father's T30...

I love the older thinkpads!!! I have a T420 which is from 2011 so its not as old as this model but it's quite nice.

I loved my X41 Tablet other than the PATA drive... The T41 was the business though back in the mid 2000s. Would love to see someone do a teardown of the old school Made in USA thinkpads vs the ones made in mexico/china/internationally etc

Song choice was immaculate

Very similar to my R50e, which I bought new in about 2005. It was the cheapest Thinkpad you could buy. It had a 1.4 Celeron M and 256mb ram. The XP experience was underwhelming! I upgraded it, over time, with a Pentium M 1.8 and 2 gigs of ram. I now have a 120gb m-sata in there in a ide drive caddy thing. Mine has the Intel Extreme 2 graphics chip. I recently got a NOS keyboard for peanuts off the 'bay. I still love it dearly and the battery even holds a charge. With the MyPal browser you can still have a surf. :)

Nice one! I have a T42 with a Pentium M 765 2.1ghz cpu and 2gtb ram. It currently has a PATA ssd and runs Gentoo linux. Great fun little machines!

I installed XP Pro a month ago and the Windows Update was back online. Only installed the Wi-Fi driver manually so far, it came with the USB Wi-Fi adapter I bought and worked great. Nothing like Windows 98 and older where even PC cards and USB don't work without installing a bunch of drivers.

Gotta love the bile in ur voice when ur said "fun experience" hahahah

Hi. My T41 worked just fine before I dropped it from my bed, side fallen on the floor first. It does not turn on with power lamps blinking, but after i push some keys it is turned on and it works fine. But it’s turned off suddenly when it has impact on some part. What do you think is the problem?

i have one of these. i installed a pentium 745 and linux mint LMDE. its barely functional on modern internet but it does work. as a result i keep it around and use it from time to time.

Good video. However, this isn't the second T-series Thinkpad made, as there was the T20 series and the the T30 (which I had back in the day). Otherwise, this should work with Raspbian OS, as it was build on the x86 architecture and should be able to be run off a USB drive. Also, you I take it you didn't have another DVD or CD drive to replace it?

I love my Thinkpad, I use it everyday

If remember correctly, the port on the left side is an s-video port (not ps2) which was used to connect a tv screen.

I still use this ThinkPad and the battery is still very good. It's running Void Linux (based on Arch Linux)

T43 in 2019 anyone ? I use a T43 with intel graphics as my mobile daily driver, it has Debian 9 installed, I use it for web browsing, schematics viewing, writing documents, light virtual machines and Linux gaming ! I think this computer is still capable of doing useful things today, if you set it up right you can watch videos in youtube at 1080p in Linux. Although mine has a weird problem, it seems like the GMCH has solder joint problems because when I try to turn it on I have to bend the laptop for it to start running, so I leave it on all the time. I dont know if I am unlucky because I read that the intel board is not prone to that kind of failure, I would like to know if someone has experienced this too. This was a really long comment haha, I rarely comment on youtube videos but today I felt like it xD. Good video and keep doing fine, thanks for your content, I would like to see you trying to do some real stuff with this T41 ;]

Nice vid!! The T42 came out after this one?? Or T42 is older thank this?? Because it doesnt have a trackpad!! only trackpint.

My mom had one, I used to play red alert 2 on it, with that little red dot 🔴

This model, when I googling, has very rare reviews with hi-res image on every site, same thing on T42

Found one T41 in scrap two days ago, and its working! Only thing is when i play sth on it after few minutes the screen is blurring. When you dont use it much, like listening to music - nothing happens with it. Whats the matter?

Hi! I've just got myself a T41, and did a clean install of XP. I'm using Snappy Driver Installer, but wireless doesn't work. Linux is working perfect. What else can i do? Thanks, sorry for my english...

That XP install had to be painful! Good that it's not a Prescott Mobile Pentium 4 :P

Ah the Pentium M CPU. My first ThinkPad was the T42 (the T41's successor) which had the horrible Pentium M CPU. One of the worst things about the CPU is that some of them didn't have the PAE CPU extension, which is needed to install and run a modern Linux distro. Unfortunately with the ThinkPad that I had the CPU extension wasn't present, which meant I was stuck with Ubuntu 10.04, unless I used Ubuntu 12.04 with a custom installer. Turned out that Ubuntu 12.04 was very slow and crash prone with the infamous Unity desktop, so rolling back to a earlier version (10.04) wasn't so bad after all.

I have one here with me, it runs a PuppyLinux Beaver. It works quite well, navigates easily through the web --the only caveat is that you gotta stream videos with a dedicated program-- and won't crash or freeze at all. I'm using only 1GB RAM. Yeah, no joke. Amazing machine to run with Linux.

One last thing: Google "snappy driver installer" it's about 15gb but its a godsend for installing drivers automatically on XP machines..... I almost feel Abit bad telling you... Also: ide to msata adaptor wud be a godsend also in this device Also: props for having halflife on disk!!

for some reason every time im trying to install ati graphics drivers it says "setup was unable to find components that can be installed on your current hardware or software configuration" i dont know how to fix it, can you help me?

Can you do a full blown "expose'" on the T410 / T420 / T430 series/sets?.....

Hey dude where can I get those drivers for my ibm t41 I’ve looked everywhere

You should take a look at the IBM T60

i have a quastion I have a T41 model aswell but cant install any drivers (i install them but no effect) and cant connect to the internet (ethernet/wireless doesnt work) any idea why?

T41 vs t42 who better?

The reason I have one of these is just fun….

Neat

i use snappy driver for installing all drivers, even on xp

This model just a bit antiquated for me I have t60 that is a good machine useable, fast, and clean for the stuff I do, I may put an antique Apple label on it just to see people’s reaction

that's how I got through college......12 years later i'm on a Thinkpad extreme gen 2.

Aren't you forgetting about the T20 series?

I wish I could get a screen that tall on a modern laptop.

Why would you black out the XP product key?

i have this computer, but dvd not working and i mus add more ram, have him about 20 years and almost dont use. Nice time machine

How to bios. Thank

I have the Same Unit Running my Fav OS of all time Windows ME 80gb hdd added a new battery waiting on a Optical drive as the current one is Borked.

Hi i just got a T42 for free. Its in perfect condition not one scratch, Also have the R52, T61 and Edge.

My name is Sandra and I want you to do me a favor can you tell me how do I do to get all that information about my IBM thinkpad laptop please

Letting you know: archive.org hosts restore images for the T41 so you can get the original IBM-customised install of Windows XP.

Well I love this video , I am holding 5 T42 , and I use them to test old Linux Distros , also got my hands on a X200s which I am going to libreboot , also have a T60 , X240 ( I'm selling ) , a T430S ( Maybe will sell , want a X230 instead of a X220 ) and my most up to date is a T13 Skylake ..( and I don't like the ultrabook thingy , so Ima sell) Love your vids can't wait for the one about express card to gpu

Also: XP.... I feel ur pain in a very real way lol

Just got myself a T40

I have one... the ram sucks and the battery too and I need a video for the battery :(

I have one of these. It doesn't want to start up. Warm environment helped for starting up, but now it will not start at all.

Stick a Linux distro on it and have a perfectly modern system for another decade :P

that is a s-video port not a PS/2 port also not sure why you couldn't run linux on it, Debian should be an easy install. Still a great video. Thanks

Half-Life 3 confirmed!!!! Except it only runs on XP.

My dad had one of these several years ago and used it until the CMOS battery died..it was a good laptop

try the zorin lite linux

my first laptop, i have it stil ... sleeps in the box :)

Peppermint OS 10 32bit , one ps3 controller + mame ,, nostalgia ,, i usally play street fighter hahaha 😂

There's no need for an outdated and now kinda useless OS such as Windows XP. There are lots of good lightweight 32 bits linux options outthere that are not outdated softwarewise and allow you to use these machines as legit daily drivers

Try Pixel, Bodhi, Debian, or even the fat lubuntu. They all run ok.

Thats some huge background noise your mic is picking up.

4:28 that's s-video not ps2

You should've just burned restore CDs, Thinkwiki and Lenovo hosts the images

It's not retro in any way, it's just old, outdated and retired. A laptop can be considered retro if it was released before year 2000. Well, okay, not beyond Pentium III era. In IBM lineup the latest models that were true retro are 770Z, 600X and 390X